Jeong Cheong-rae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who compared the collection of cultural property admission fees to ‘Bongi Kim Seon-dal’ and caused strong opposition from the Buddhist community, bowed his head again toward the Buddhist community on the 21st. He said, “I will listen with a lower attitude and work harder for the coexistence and development of the people and the Buddhist community.” This is the background to the continued opinion of Rep. Jeong, ‘Isn’t it necessary to leave the party or leave the party?’ in the Democratic Party, which has to appease the anger of the Buddhist community ahead of the presidential election in March.
Rep. Jeong held a press conference at the National Assembly in the afternoon of the same day and said, “I am deeply sorry for causing concern to the Buddhist community.” He continued, “As the first schedule for the new year of Im In-Yeon, I visited ten thousand-year-old temples. The great monks gave me many words of wisdom, and I learned the sorrows of patriotic Buddhism and the struggles of the monks who devoted themselves to protecting Buddhist cultural assets.” I will do my best to improve the laws and systems so that the efforts of the monks are not in vain.” In particular, he emphasized, “I will do my best so that the Buddhist community can be loved and respected and the traditional Buddhist culture can blossom by examining the insufficient cultural properties protection and management law and traditional temple conservation management law.”
Rep. Jeong initially tried to apologize to the National Monks Convention, which condemned the religious biases of the government and ruling party, along with Song Young-gil. However, unlike Representative Song and others who entered the Jogyesa Temple in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the venue, Rep. Jeong had to turn away from the entrance. It seems to have taken into account the fact that the dissatisfaction of the Buddhist community has not cooled down. CEO Song repeatedly apologized to the Buddhist community on the spot and said, “We will prepare systematic legislative alternatives to rationally solve current issues such as the national park issue, protection of state-designated Buddhist cultural assets, and improvement of regulations on traditional temples, including the cultural property admission fee suggested by the Buddhist community.” he emphasized.
Rep. Jeong had to return to the National Assembly to apologize at a separate press conference. After the press conference, on social networking service (SNS) Facebook page, he bowed his head once again to the Buddhist world, saying that when he visited Haeunjeongsa Temple in Busan recently, he was called ‘Jisan’, which means ‘wise mountain’.
He did not state his position on the withdrawal. After the interview, he did not answer the question, “Do you have any plans to leave the party?” However, within the party, opinions are divided over Rep. Chung’s whereabouts. Rep. Jeong posted on Facebook on the 18th, revealing that “‘Lee Haek-kwan (a key official of the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung)’ came and recommended that he voluntarily leave the party. One Democratic Party lawmaker said, “(Rep. Chung’s remarks) came from a letter of audit last year, and I don’t think it’s a matter to discuss leaving or leaving the party.”
Shin Eun-byeol reporter ebshin@hankookilbo.com
